1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic connector devices. More particularly, the present invention is a fiber optic transceiver release mechanism.
2. Background Art
Computers, related peripheral equipment, and satellite and communication systems have in the recent past evolved extremely rapidly. These systems require ever-increasing data transfer rates to perform the highly complex tasks that drive such processes as digital signal processing, image analysis, and communications. With current demands, optical couplers are used to transfer signals over short and long distances between computers, between two circuit boards in one computer, and even between multiple chips on a single printed circuit board. The use of high-speed optical signals in place of electrical interconnections increases the achievable data transfer rate.
An optical transmitter/receiver module typically includes both light-emitting devices, such as vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), and light-detecting devices such as photodiodes. Driver/receiver circuitry modules, typically in the form of application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, include driver circuitry which receives electrical signals from one device and drives the VCSELs in response. The ASIC also includes receiver circuitry for receiving signals from the photodiodes and, in response, for processing those signals into an appropriate output. The combination of the VCSELs, the photodiodes, and the ASIC circuitry is commonly referred to as an optical transceiver.
As the density of the optical arrays increases, coupling a fiber optic cable to the arrays becomes an increasingly complex task. It is very important to align the active area of each emitter and detector with a corresponding fiber of the fiber optic bundle. The mechanical connection means therefore undergo a corresponding increase in importance. Fiber optic connectors are therefore of great interest in the current art. As such, improvements in the reliability and ease of manufacturing of such connectors are always welcome.
In the applications that are of interest in the present invention, local connector (LC) plugs are received in a pair of bays in a fiber optic transceiver module housed in a cage that is permanently mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB). It is imperative for data integrity that the connector means hold the LC plugs in position during data transmission or receiving. If the user wants to remove the transceiver module from the cage, it is equally important that the user be able to know whether or not the LC plugs are in use.